Before I get to the expanded review of the DT balcony scene per several requests, I few other thoughts...

As many of you have already seen on LJ and elsewhere, James has landed a guest spot on The Mountain. Sure, I'd have prefered hearing CSI or Law & Order or Alias, but the guy has to work. If anyone wants to read a hilarious take on why James is the new Benedict Arnold and how sitting on his ass is better then earning money, check out whedonesque.

I'd was going to do a write up on Smallville but I'm still dumbstruck at, well, how dumb this weeks episode was. Did the writers just stop reading the scripts? Back when I went to college they kinda checked to make sure you graduated high school before the day before you showed up for orientation. Of course, my shock at that was outwieghed by my laughter at the fact we are suppose to believe Lois is only 18. That reaction shot of Chloe at the end was good. Five seconds of my life I won't ask for back.

Survivor really sucks and blows this season. Even Jeff can't make this group of knuckleheads remotely interesting.

OK, now for what you are really interested in the balcony scene...

To begin with, there is no way I can do justice to the scene, but I do think I can explain why it suddenly left me going GUH. After watching the dailies, I watched the aired version of the scene. What UPN broadcast was an implied version, sure, we understood what was happening, but we didn't really see much of it. The scene primarily consisted of closeups, a cut away to Anya, Willow, and Xander, and only one brief bit in which we see Spike and Buffy back to front and slightly swaying. With the dailies you get to see the continuous takes with all the not so subtle moves. And you get to hear just them - there's no music or background chatter to drown out whats going on between the two.

I really wish we could hear more direction on the dailies. You're basically left to deduce what they must have been told, assuming you pick up on the subtle differences in the takes.

In the first take, Sarah portrays Buffy as being more anxious? nervous? slightly paniced? incredibly excited by Spike's presence? I think a combination of all of that. You can see and hear that she's breathing very heavily. James portrays Spike as harsher. Sure in all the takes and in the finished product he comes off as trying to manipulate Buffy's feelings, but in the first take he's also smirking at her, seemingly enjoying degrading her and that I'm glad didn't make it's way into the ep.

We also get to see a lot more rocking back and forth on James' part as well as his shoulders rising and falling. Sarah sways slightly in unison, following his lead. I know Sarah has mentioned her discomfort in shooting this particular scene. Partly because she felt it was out of character for Buffy (side note - I agree). But, I can't imagine her being very comfortable when James, instead of sliding his hand down her side, is moving it down her front. On the other hand, we do see her joke around during the filming, smiling at the camera and one time after "cut" is called, thrusting her butt back to throw James off balance (you can see him laughing).

Oh, and at one point James does this little eye flutter thing while....I'll be heaading to my bunk now.....

Thanks for that link to the Mountain kerfluffle. I'm ready to kill something to see JM again, so I don't care what he's in. The irony of the timeslot is a bit galling, but what can you do? Watch The OC instead, I suppose. ;0)

Sadly. as far as I know, there is no way to download the scenes I'm talking about. I was lucky to get a copy of the dailies via a friend of a friend. At the moment I have no way to make copies, but I hope to have a DVD burner in the future.

I just saw this week's Smallville tonight with my former roommate D. and we agreed that it was just mind-numbingly awful. The contrivance to get Lois into high school was painful, and throughout the show, whenever Lois appeared onscreen, D. would start shouting, "She's 35 years old!" Chloe's reaction at the end was interesting, and I also found it gratifying to watch Lana have a mirror fall on her (though the horse-stomping was better), but yeah. Not good. They need to stop spending so much time on Lana's special destiny and give us more Lex, in my opinion.

As for the The Mountain kerfuffle, it's yet another example of some fans being a little over-proprietary about actors, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just bummed that I'm going to have to sit through an hour of a show that's apparently utter shite--unless it gets cancelled first--in order to see JM on my television screen again. But I'm sure he has reasons for thinking it's a good opportunity for him. It's interesting that it's a very age-appropriate role for him too: father of a teenager.

and throughout the show, whenever Lois appeared onscreen, D. would start shouting, "She's 35 years old!"

LOL. Yeah, I think the actress is only around 25, but she has laugh lines! How many 18 year olda have those?

They need to stop spending so much time on Lana's special destiny and give us more Lex, in my opinion.

Yeah, I'm no expert as the the Superman mythology, but I do know that Lex is hugely important and I don't recall Lana having any damn destiny. And what was up with that 'lost' room? I thought Smallvile was suppose to be some hick town, yet their theater department has a costume room that rivals most Broadway theatres?!

as far as I'm concerned. I'm just bummed that I'm going to have to sit through an hour of a show that's apparently utter shite--unless it gets cancelled first--in order to see JM on my television screen again.

I actually watched The Mountain last night out of curiosity. It's not very good, but I've seen a lot worse. The actors at least are trying to take it seriously and make something of the lines they are given.

And Erica Durance is a year younger than Tom Welling. I have no love for her portrayl of Lois (no for Lois the character), but she's not the only one guilty of being an aged crone.

Oh, yeah, I know TW is 26 or 27. I was cracking up when they did the flashback to him as a high school freshman. Sure, comb his hair differently and I'll believe he's 14. :p But, at least Tom tries to act younger than his years. Erica comes off as if she's seen thirty in her rear view mirror. Hell, last week they made that big issue of her quitting smoking.

My bitterness stems from that pathological harpy being back in the credits. Hate. Hate. HATE CHLOE.

Your bitterness seems to rival that for season 4 of Angel. ;) I have no feelings one way or another about Chloe though she needs to make a move or get over Clark, because everyone mooning over everyone else is getting tiresome.

On the other hand, we do see her joke around during the filming, smiling at the camera and one time after "cut" is called, thrusting her butt back to throw James off balance (you can see him laughing).

Oh, and at one point James does this little eye flutter thing while....

Oh, those are my 2 favorite parts!!! Eee!

And i think her trying to joke is also a way of cutting tension of a really, well, tense scene. I'm amazed at how graphic the scenes were before they went to air.

Though, despite all that we saw, i still question how teh sex was possible. I know i shouldn't be questioning the details and acrobatics, but... they could have at least raised her up a bit or had him dip down, something!

I know, i know, i should question the porn.Must go back to JM flutter eyes...mmm... this is only second to the SMASHED dailies where SMG does this whole kiss teasing that i so wish had stayed.

Heh, they get the math wrong in most of the sex scenes. In Smashed, once I got over the shock of THE ZIPPER, I spent the rest of the scene laughing because unless Spike was endowed to the point of 2 feet or so, Buffy was having a great time with air.

Re: the whole upheaval over JM's newest gig, I think the angry/disappointed mob is making a Mountain out of a molehill. *heh heh* Bottom line: I'm glad JM is working. I might check out this ep, with no interest whatsoever in the show; hell, I watched him on that atrocious VH1 special, I'm sure I can survive this.

Then again, I was so disgusted by Charisma's guest role on Charmed that I've totally supressed the humiliating experience of her on that show, in that part, in that outfit... *shudder* Whenever the memory tries to resurface, I have to tell myself, that's not your Cordy, it's just someone who looks like her... *sigh*

Thanks for the balcony porn. Much appreciated. But you see, I need to see these dailies you speak of. Now. Where oh where can I get them, and will my firstborn be sufficient reimbursement?

As many of you have already seen on LJ and elsewhere, James has landed a guest spot on The Mountain. Sure, I'd have prefered hearing CSI or Law & Order or Alias, but the guy has to work.

I hadn't heard about it. Yes, I know that MANY people think that James' the modern-day version of Laurence Olivier, but he DOES need to work and keep his face out their for casting agents, writers, directors and producers to see. Don't they WANT him to work?!

Thanks for the dailies recap, I was really curious about that balcony scene, as it was rather controversial, and the least loved by SMG scene.

About plausibility of the sex scenes in BtVS: I am just suspending my disbelief about the mechanics, and enjoy the porn - it is not that it should be used as manual, but to pint and laugh at it is much fun, too. ;)

I'm going to have to watch mine again, because nothing you've recounted strikes a familiar chord with me.

I don't really recall James smirking at her sense of degredation, or sliding his had down Sarah's front, or Sarah butting him off of her to his laughter. I never saw James fluttering his eyes.

What I do recall is a take where after "Cut" Sarah says that James had just been fucking her back...and that another take she says "Dude," there is too much sex in this show. And after every take I saw, as soon as "Cut" is called James immediately removes his hands and steps back away from Sarah.

What disc were you watching? Is there more than one segment of the balcony sex scene? I know I just saw a segment of the balcony scene last night or the night before - think it was on the first disc, or if not, disc three.

Sorry for the delay, I've been offline for a few days and am just catching up with replies.

I think the dailies, like the show, are open to interpretation. I watched the dailies again this weekend with friends who were seeing them for the first time. They pretty much had the same opinion I did. That first take of the balcony scene, Spike came off too harsh in his interaction with Buffy, in my opinion. There is a point where he looks at her and, to me, it looks like he's smirking - as if he's doesn't seem to care about her unease. Whereas, in the episode, I simply thought Spike wasn't thinking so much about Buffy, but centered on himself and trying to convince her to see he was right.

Now, Sarah butting James back from her happens I think during one of the takes from waist level. The director calls cut and Sarah juts out her rear which causes James to go a bit off balance. Sarah's smiling and you can see James start to laugh. I think it was just one of her ways of breaking the tension while shooting such an emotional scene. She seems like she enjoys joking around on the set. My favorite bit of that appears in the 'Gone' dailies when James/Spike marches away from Buffy after retrieving his lighter from her pocket. As soon as James is out of view of the camera, Sarah marches after him imitating his stride.

I'd have to watch again to spot the eye flutter. It's there, I swear! ;) But, it was subtle and even I missed it this weekend because I wasn't watching closely.

And after every take I saw, as soon as "Cut" is called James immediately removes his hands and steps back away from Sarah.

I hope you didn't think I was implying that anyone was less than professional while filming. The more I see the dailies the more I'm amazed at how professional and respectful they all are on the set. I can see why James raved as much as he has about the show and his co-workers.

Disc one is the only disc with the balcony scene as far as I know. Granted, I did fast forward over some stuff, but I think I saw all the Buffy and Spike footage.